Protect Your Family From Underinsured Drivers

Posted on Jun 5, 2012 12:00am PDT

If you own and operate any type of vehicle, it may be a good idea to protect
yourself from
uninsured and underinsured motorists by including sufficient Supplemental Underinsured Motorist and Uninsured
Motorist coverage (SUM/UM) in your policy. In fact, it is mandatory in
the state of New York. It is up to you to decide on the amount of coverage
that your policy will provide, however, as you are only required to purchase
minimum liability coverage for uninsured motorists. At Lurie, Ilchert,
MacDonnell & Ryan LLP, we would like to ensure that you and your family
are adequately protected in the event of an accident. For this reason,
we encourage you to learn more about the benefits of SUM/UM coverage.

What is SUM/UM Coverage?

So how does SUM/UM coverage work and why is it important? Well, this portion
of your policy would cover you and your residential relatives up to the
amount of coverage that you have purchased. This means that you would
have access to that amount of coverage after an accident with an uninsured
or underinsured motorist, but also that the at-fault driver's insurance
coverage would be deducted from that total amount—if they have any,
that is. For example, if you had purchased $100,000 in SUM/UM coverage
and you were subsequently involved in an accident with a driver who had
only purchased the New York State minimum liability coverage of $25,000,
an additional $75,000 would be available to you.

Had you not purchased SUM/UM coverage, you wouldn't have had access
to this supplemental coverage—which, in many cases, is quite necessary.
There are many instances in which this coverage could be used, including
hit and run accidents, so it is important to make sure that you and your
family are adequately protected.

New York City Car Accident Attorneys

If you are interested in having an attorney at Lurie, Ilchert, MacDonnell
& Ryan LLP review your automobile policy, we encourage you to
give us a call todayfor a free initial consultation. In doing so, we will have the opportunity
to explain how SUM/UM coverage works, what limitations each policy could
have and how it will ultimately benefit you.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.